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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25784944">those I know by heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowumbrella/pseuds/rainbowumbrella'>rainbowumbrella</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Good Sibling Diego Hargreeves, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, The Umbrella Academy (TV) Season 2 Spoilers, Time Travel, good leader too!, no sparrow academy here!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:42:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,775</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25784944</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowumbrella/pseuds/rainbowumbrella</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <b>Season 2 spoilers!</b>
</p><p>*<br/>*<br/>*<br/>*</p><p>“Isn’t it… over? I mean, we saved the day. It’s April 2nd,” Klaus points out. “Isn’t now the time when everything goes back to normal?”</p><p>They’re back in 2019, which is good. It’s progress. It’s where they’re supposed to be.</p><p>Except…</p><p>Things don’t seem quite the same.</p><p>Five’s picture over the mantelpiece is missing. Instead, there’s a large painting of the Umbrella Academy - Luther, Diego, Allison, himself, Five, Ben and Vanya. They look older than the last time the Academy was really anything that resembled a team. His head swims, a migraine on the verge of happening. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. It’ll be fine. Five will - Five will have an explanation.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Klaus Hargreeves &amp; Everyone, The Hargreeves Family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>115</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>those I know by heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><b>Spoilers for season 2!</b><br/>Title taken from Gin Blossom’s Follow You Down.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A long time ago, when they were twelve and Five was reading every book on time-travel he could get his hands on - they were many, for Sir Reginald Hargreeves found the pursuit of academic knowledge to be one of the most worthwhile endeavors he’d ever managed to get the children to engage in - his brother had told Klaus all about something called the butterfly effect.</p><p>Klaus didn’t understand the intricacies of it, the physics and whatnot that Five threw around like it was common knowledge, but he did get the gist of the theory. When you change something in the timeline, it ripples out. Step on a butterfly, and a tornado forms. Pick up a feather, and a baby is born. Although not entirely unpredictable, the calculations to extrapolate the effects of a single given action were supposed to be complicated, and the effect of seven people out of time, two of them for as long as three years…</p><p>Yeah, Klaus finds himself less surprised than he probably should be after he has a moment to digest everything.</p><p>They’re back in 2019, which is good. It’s progress. It’s where they’re supposed to be.</p><p>Except…</p><p>Things don’t seem quite the same.</p><p>Five’s picture over the mantelpiece is missing. Instead, there’s a large painting of the Umbrella Academy - Luther, Diego, Allison, himself, Five, Ben and Vanya. They look older than the last time the Academy was really anything that resembled a team - they must have been at least near their early twenties when this was painted.</p><p>Five never went missing. He remembers that. But he also remembers a dinner where his brother ran out, never to come back. Or, well, not for another sixteen years.</p><p>Ben never died. He remembers that. But he also remembers a mission gone wrong, a funeral that eviscerated each and every one of them. A ghost, forever his companion. The guilt of keeping him there, the overwhelming fear of admitting his mistake blending with the suffocating fear of being alone in the world.</p><p>His head is swimming, and he can see the others frown and throw confused glances around the room. Luther has picked up a framed article and he’s reading it with profound concentration. With a quick peek at the headline, Klaus picks up the words ‘ACCIDENT’ and ‘SPACEBOY’ - the mission that went wrong, he supposes, but…</p><p>He was there, wasn’t he? He was. He was there, along with Ben and Allison. The last remaining members of the Umbrella Academy after Diego, Five and Vanya left. They never knew they were dealing with something hazardous, and Ben’s tentacles breached a tank - Luther jumped in front of him to save him from the blast, but got caught in it himself. After that, he had trouble on missions, and Dad chose instead to send him on a long-term survey mission of the moon.</p><p>How can he remember that, when it never really happened for him?</p><p>Or did it?</p><p>His head swims, a migraine on the verge of happening. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. It’ll be fine. Five will - Five will have an explanation.</p><p>Except when he opens his eyes again, it’s to find Five crouched on the floor against an armchair, hands clutching at his head, fingers curled around locks of hair, tugging at them. Klaus frowns, concerned, and quickly looks over the room, trying to see if any of his siblings are experiencing anything remotely like that. Diego is examining a series of portraits that, much like the ones in their original timeline, seem to depict the Academy through the years. It might give them a clue as to how their lives progressed here, he figures, but that’s not his priority now. Allison is digging through drawers and bookcases, seemingly in search of something, Ben is -</p><p>Well, Ben is dead. But he’s not dead, he’s -</p><p>Another sharp pain makes dark spots dance before his eyes, and he shifts his focus.</p><p>Vanya. Vanya is -</p><p>She’s sitting on the couch, resting her head in her hands, but she glances at him when she notices him looking, and she smiles slightly. He decides that, for the moment, she’s okay. Five is the problem. Maybe too much time travel has really started to take a toll on him, plus the sheer stress of the situation. How long has it been for him? It can’t have been more than a month, right? He never built a life for himself in the sixties, he never got rest of any kind.</p><p>He’s allowed a bit of a breakdown.</p><p>Klaus wanders over to him, slowly easing himself down beside him and, tentatively, he reaches out to rest a hand on his shoulder. Five doesn’t shrug him away, and that’s when he decides something must be seriously wrong with his brother. Actually thirteen year-old Five might have been fine with this, but the version of Five he got to know after he came back was generally not. The years in the apocalypse, Klaus figures, must make every human contact almost alien to him.</p><p>“Hey, Five?” he asks as gently as he can, brows furrowing.</p><p>Five doesn’t reply.</p><p>He looks around for help, only to find that Diego has gone to Vanya, and Allison and Luther both seem to be dealing with some level or another of panic of their own, so -</p><p>Well, he’s on his own.</p><p>That’s alright, he tells himself. He likes to think that no matter what Five might say, he’s still one of his favorite siblings. He’s always been harsh with his words, always, but they used to be close. That counts for something, right?</p><p>“Here - “ he slips a hand under one of Five’s own, then pauses for a moment to make sure the gesture isn’t unwelcome. Five doesn’t move - “squeeze my hand if you can hear me.”</p><p>Fingers curl over his palm and squeeze tightly enough that Klaus lets out a small hiss of pain.</p><p>He can hear him, that’s progress.</p><p>Simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions should be possible, then. He just has to plan them carefully, the last thing he wants is to put unnecessary stress on his brother when he’s clearly in some kind of pain. Help, that’s the best thing he can offer him, but how can he help when he doesn’t have the first clue what’s going on? Asking about it, unless he can come up with a theory that he can directly question Five on, is out of the question. So that leaves…</p><p>Mom.</p><p>Of course. She’ll know how to help.</p><p>“Should I -“</p><p>But Five’s grip on his hand relaxes, and after a few deep breaths, Five’s eyes open and find his. He seems… tired. Unfocused. It’s a little disconcerting to see him without all of his defenses up - it reminds Klaus of a younger, less guarded version of him - but he seems to be fine otherwise, so Klaus decides to push that aside and just breathe a sigh of relief. He’s just lost (or not?) Ben, he’s not about to lose another brother. He can’t deal with that, he can’t.</p><p>“Klaus,” Five says after a moment, eyes studying him curiously.</p><p>He shifts under his brother’s gaze, brushing a strand of hair behind his ear self-consciously. He’s no stranger to being scrutinized, and he has more than enough experience to spot the difference between well-intentioned and nefarious interest from a mile away, but when it’s family looking him over with that intensity… Well, he can’t help but brace for a lecture.</p><p>Instead, he tries to redirect Five’s attention. There’s far more important matters at hand, anyway.</p><p>“Yeah. Yeah, it’s me. What happened? You okay?” he asks.</p><p>Five nods, but winces at the gesture and quickly raises a hand to his temple, massaging it lightly. “I’m fine. As far as I can tell, I just had a good sixteen years of memories encoded in my brain. I suspect the process isn’t done, but the worst of it should be over. Everyone will be experiencing some version of this, I believe. Some more than others. How are you feeling?”</p><p>“Like I’m minutes away from the worst hangover of my life,” he explains, letting out a small moan as his head pounds at the reminder. “My head is all… swimmy. I think Vanya’s got it worse than most of us, though.”</p><p>Five frowns. “Vanya?”</p><p>Following Klaus’ gaze, Five turns around - a little too quickly, resulting in a hiss and a hand cradling his stomach - to find Vanya. She, too, seems to have recovered to some extent, and she’s talking to Diego, their voices too quiet to be heard from where Klaus and Five sit. They’re smiling, though, and it’s a nice change from the last version of 2019.</p><p>It still amazes Klaus that they have actually succeeded at something.</p><p>Really, he can think of very few people who were less well-suited to the task of saving the world.</p><p>“I should think that she’d be the least affected. She was only ever tangential to the Umbrella Academy, and the big changes I can remember - “ a hiss of pain “ - all revolve around us. I never left. Ben never died.”</p><p>“Yeah, I don’t think she was tangential. Not in this timeline,” Klaus corrects him. “She’s up on the portrait with us. And I remember. I remember… our first mission. She was there. She was there and we were all so, so scared and it was raining and there was thunder and when she tried to help the windows all shattered, but I think she might have saved Luther’s life.”</p><p>“Vanya,” Five muses, brows scrunching up in thought, “Vanya, a member of the Academy. Now, why would Dad change his mind about her?”</p><p>Klaus shrugs. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because there was no apoc-“</p><p>“- don’t answer that, it was purely rethor - actually, do go on.”</p><p>“There was no apocalypse, right? Because we stopped it. And Dad knew it was coming, somehow, and he must have known it had something to do with Vanya, or he wouldn’t have been as scared of her as he was. But it wouldn’t be coming if we stopped it, so there’d be nothing for Dad to see, and so he’d have no reason to make the decision that causes the apocalypse in the first place. And now I think my head hurts for a different reason.”</p><p>Dear ol’ Dad was right. Time travel is a crapshoot. Timelines are just way too messy to make any sense whatsoever. How did Five make heads and tails out of this crap at all?</p><p>“That… makes sense, actually. I’ll have to work on the calculations to confirm it, but it makes sense. Thank you, Klaus.”</p><p>Klaus smiles despite himself, the grin more genuine than the easy, lazy smile he likes to plaster on his face. This is a downright huge compliment coming from Five, and those don’t come often, especially not in this field - his heart soars, his face lights up. Thankfully, Five is currently busy watching Vanya, so he doesn’t get a chance to make a snarky remark over that.</p><p>After a moment of silence, Five says, “we should gather the others, discuss where to go from here.”</p><p>“Isn’t it… over? I mean, we saved the day. It’s April 2nd,” Klaus points out. “Isn’t now the time when everything goes back to normal?”</p><p>Whatever normal even is at this point. Allison is a movie star again. Diego is a janitor and part-time Batman. Vanya is a violinist and a teacher. And what about him? What is he supposed to do now? He’s never really done this, he’s never really built a life for himself - he’s always just gone wherever the currents dragged him, gotten by rather than really driven his own life. But things are different now. He doesn’t want to fall back into old habits. Right?</p><p>Part of him almost wants Five to say things aren’t over. It’s a good excuse to keep going.</p><p>“I don’t know. I didn’t foresee so much change to the timeline. We need to make sure we’re truly safe now - for all we know, we might have dragged the apocalypse back here again,” Five explains.</p><p>“And indeed, you have.”</p><p>The voice is loud, clear and commanding. Klaus flinches, shoulders hunching almost protectively. Five’s head follows it to its source with sharp interest. Vanya shrinks a little, the smile falling off her face, and Diego stands, balancing his weight in a way that made it clear that he’s ready for a fight. Out of the corner of his eye, Klaus can see Luther taking a step back. As he turns to find the source of the voice, he sees Allison frozen, staring silently at the figure in the mezzanine.</p><p>Sir Reginald Hargreeves.</p><p>“Number Five, I see you’ve been time-traveling. What do you have to report?” He asks, and Klaus wants to say that his tone is casual, but he’s fairly certain Sir Reginald doesn’t do casual. It’s… certainly underwhelming in the situation, though, as if this were a simple mission briefing rather than what it truly is.</p><p>What that is, Klaus isn’t quite sure yet.</p><p>Five pushes himself to his feet, and when he speaks, his voice is almost a growl. “I don’t report to you.”</p><p>It’s... a change from the Five who’d been at the very least willing to talk civilly to their father in the sixties, ask him for advice. Klaus wonders what he remembers now, wonders how much these new memories affect their feelings. Could he be different now, too? As much as he might have spent a good part of his life running away from himself as well as the ghosts, he suddenly finds that the thought of this scares him.</p><p>“Oh, but I thought you were looking to stop the apocalypse, Number Five,” Reginald points out, his voice calm, almost amused, and Klaus feels a pit of dread at the bottom of his stomach. He knows this, he knows this all too well. They’re cornered, nowhere to run, no choice but to play into whatever schemes have been laid out for them. It’s their childhood, all over again.</p><p>He feels queasy.</p><p>Next to him, Five hesitates for a moment, then, slowly, he begins to back down, muscles relaxing to attention rather than aggression. Klaus almost wishes he wouldn’t, even if he knows Five hardly has another choice. He just wants someone to fight this, and he knows it won’t be him. He’s never been brave, not really. Between fight and flight, he almost always chooses flight. It’s only partially because he hates fighting.</p><p>Reginald smiles, and Klaus swears he can see smugness dripping from the gesture. He knows they’re giving in, he knows they’re walking into the trap he set out for them because it’s the only way forward. A shiver runs down his spine, but otherwise, he doesn’t move. He doesn’t think he could.</p><p>Not noticing or, more likely, not caring about their struggle, Reginald continues, “I always knew you would come back. That’s quite a mess you’ve made out of the timeline, Number Five. I warned you. The consequences of changing events so carelessly can be dire. I never could discuss this fully with you, lest we endanger the timeline even further, but judging by your current predicament, I assume the time has finally come. Never before have I registered such a large disturbance, we may be running out of time.”</p><p>And Klaus has to chuckle at that, because every time that Five, the time traveler, is there, they’re running out of time. The irony is painful.</p><p>It’s the wrong move, though, for the sound brings his father’s attention to him, and he shrinks into himself, uncomfortable and unsure under his gaze. “Number Four!” Reginald booms, “have you made any progress with your abilities?”</p><p>“I - yes? I mean, I don’t know!” he cries out, running stressed fingers through his hair. How the hell is he supposed to know that? He doesn’t even know how far he got with them in this timeline. Without ghost Ben, he never would have found out that he can make ghosts tangible, visible, or even give them the ability to possess people. But then again, with the Academy active for longer, who knows what might have happened? What Reginald might not have done to force him to explore his so-called gifts?</p><p>His answer, however, is apparently not satisfactory. Reginald tuts. “I trust you will get to that immediately. We’ll need to draft up a schedule for all of you, since you’ve clearly neglected your training, and be prepared to work twice as hard as you ever did. You are no longer children, and the stakes are higher than ever.”</p><p>As he spoke, however, Diego moved closer, and when his speech comes to an end, he’s standing before the group, fingers twitching towards a knife. The confidence he had during that fateful dinner is gone - Klaus can see how his shoulders are a little more hunched, his step a little less sure, but he’s angry and protective, and this seems like a terrible, terrible idea, but he’s going to stand up to Dad and Klaus can’t help but feel a little reassured.</p><p>“And what makes you think that we’re here to take orders from you?” Diego asks.</p><p>Allison nods from her position just a step behind Diego. Luther just stares between them, uncertain, fading easily into the background despite his large frame. Vanya, still sitting on the couch, also watches silently. Five shifts beside him, crossing his arms over his chest, and he nods in Diego’s direction, as if directing their father to listen to him.</p><p>At least, Klaus supposes, they’ve evolved into marginally supportive. It’s a step up.</p><p>“Well, that’s very simple, Number Two,” Reginald begins, raising an eyebrow at the group, “you are here to stop the apocalypse, are you not? I have been monitoring the timeline, preparing you children for this occasion. But if you wish to succeed in your mission, you will need have grown into your powers the way you were always meant to grow.”</p><p>Diego glances back at them.</p><p>Almost in unison, they all shake their heads.</p><p>“Yeah, I don’t think so, Reggie,” he replies, shaking his head and offering him an almost gleeful smirk. “Good try, though.”</p><p>“I think our business here is settled, then,” Five concludes, making a jump for the door. “Thanks for the tip, by the way. Traveling back a few seconds rather than long periods of time is surprisingly useful.”</p><p>Klaus scrambles to his feet, Vanya stands up and makes her way to the door. Luther peels away from the wall he’s been examining carefully, and Allison joins Five and Diego at the exit. Reginald watches them with careful eyes.</p><p>“Number Five,” he begins as they file out of the room silently, “time is weakening. There have been too many paradoxes, too many changes. If this is not fixed, if it is allowed to continue, time itself will fall apart. The world as you know it will cease to exist, time will end on a second that will last forever, when all moments will happen at once. Is that what you wish to see happen, Number Five?”</p><p>Five stops.</p><p>Klaus curses under his breath.</p><p>They got so close. So close from slipping away from this manor of nightmares, so close to not having to relieve the greatest horrors of their childhood.</p><p>But Sir Reginald is right, isn’t he? They’ve screwed up the timeline in ways that he can’t even comprehend. By all means, it should not be possible. But it happened. The butterfly effect, spreading out for years, decades, creating paradoxes and unfinished timelines, changing time left and right. Something like that can’t just happen. It can’t stand without consequences.</p><p>He shifts in his spot for a moment, then, still a little hesitantly, Five turns around. “And if I wanted to fix the timeline? What could I even do that wouldn’t make matters worse?”</p><p>“I’ve been studying this phenomenon since we first met, Number Five. I believe that with your help, I can predict when certain key events will happen to further unbalance the timeline. If enough of them can be avoided, time will eventually heal itself, and the future will happen as it should.”</p><p>Five clenches his jaw, shifting uneasily.</p><p>It’s Allison, though, who speaks up next. “Not that I’d let you stay here by yourself, Five, but... I’m not seeing why anyone else is needed. Why do we need to grow into our powers?”</p><p>“Because you will face many perils, of course!” Reginald rebuts. “Many of these events will not be easy to prevent, and there are, of course, those who do not wish to have the timeline saved. They will stop at nothing to avoid the restoration of an already fractured timeline.”</p><p>Five sighs, then shakes his head, fists clenching in frustration. “The Commission. Of course, it always has to be them, I - “ the sentence ends in a loud exclamation of sheer exasperation.</p><p>Diego frowns. “The Commission? I thought their whole thing was preserving the timeline.”</p><p>“It is. But the timeline has been pushed too far, it’s already broken. That must be why they didn’t interfere until now, why they let so many changes stand. It’s irreversibly altered, something, at least, that’s supposed to happen will never happen. At that means Protocol D - doomsday. Let the timeline fracture itself until it collapses, then start over.”</p><p>“Start over?”</p><p>“Don’t ask.”</p><p>They fall silent.</p><p>Sir Reginald Hargreeves stands back, watching the group argue between themselves, and Klaus knows, he just knows, that it’s over. He’s won.</p><p>Reginald knows, too.</p><p>Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire, Olympic gold medalist, terrible person, worse father, has <s>seven</s> six superpowered siblings under his command again, and there is little they can do about it without endangering time itself. Six superpowered siblings, trapped in their childhood nightmare (or nightmare of a childhood) again.</p><p>Diego glances between them.</p><p>One by one, slowly, hesitantly, they nod.</p><p>Klaus has tears in his eyes when Diego’s gaze falls on him, his stomach doing somersaults, legs itching to carry him to the door as quickly as possible, to run while he still can, fingers shaking as they look for a little bag or flask or carton or anything and there’s nothing there. He still nods, choking back a sob. The tears never spill.</p><p>He won’t give Reginald the satisfaction.</p><p>No, he won’t give him an excuse - an excuse to ridicule him, to put him down in front of his siblings.</p><p>Not that they hold him in any esteem at all.</p><p>Finally, Diego’s eyes fall on Reginald once again. He nods.</p><p>“Okay. W - w - we’ll stay.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wasn’t super happy with how this turned out, but the next few chapters should veer into more emotional territory!</p><p>I’d love to hear any thought you guys might have, and next chapter I’ll probably drop a link to my Tumblr so you can check it out if you want! I’m always happy for anyone to come talk to me about TUA or my fics or other fics or anything, really :-)</p><p>(Come scream with me about season 2!)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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